I never hated trees even Eucalyptus ones in California mostly because I have an affinity with trees and always have even as a child in Lake Forest Park, Washington where I spent the first 4 years of my life before my father moved us to Southern California. First to San Diego area and then to Los Angeles County further north from San Diego. I always assumed as a little child that Eucalyptus trees were a California tree and didn't know that they came from Australia in the 1850s during the gold Rush which began in 1848 so they arrived with Australians coming for the Gold Rush in California by the 1850s in packets of seeds it says. Since eucalyptus like Oaks are a drought resistant tree they fit right in in California even when there isn't much water most of the year. So, often you will see eucalyptus trees as wind breaks for farms planted some time since the 1850s when they first arrived here as packets of seed with Australians. But, it isn't good for building because it tends to crack and warp a lot after the trees are cut into pieces and it wasn't good for railroad ties either because of the same problems. So, because in a forest fire eucalyptus trees explode for some reason, you have to be very careful trying to fight a fire around or near eucalyptus trees or you will have shards of wood like arrows into you if you are around when one explodes in a fire. So, their best uses are actually as wind breaks and for shade in the summer time. However, you mostly don't want them around your houses simply because they are not very stable as a tree and also they tend to throw a lot of bark around in a wind storm. For example, in December the big one next door threw shards of bark 6 feet long into our back yard too. (between 20 to 50 pieces like this). Another problem is that the bark and seed pods tend to be toxic to other plants so other plants have a hard time growing under them too. But, if you only want shade or wind breaks for farms they are really great for this and this is where you will see them the most around California shading and blocking heavy winds from crops the most.
So, like Oaks and Redwoods, Eucalyptus trees have found an environment in California that is much like the parts of Australia where they grow and have evolved naturally. I have found these three types of trees are along the coast of California a lot to the north. Through Pines mostly live in the higher Coastal Range there are varieties of pines that live along the coast like the Torrey Pines near UCSD which is near La Jolla on the coast and then you have varieties like the Monterey pine along the coast heading north from Morro Bay up through Monterey and into San Francisco that also does fine and lives on the fog from the coast a lot since rain isn't always predictable on the coast or inland in California. But, along the coast you have a lot of fog, especially north of Santa Barbara all the way up the California coast especially now from about April to October (especially now during Global Climate changes).
Different varieties of Pines and Firs live in the Sierras and Cascades and the Trinity Alps going further north into California and Oregon and Washington and into Canada.
No comments:
Post a Comment